>> these higher gas prices definitely affect the way i budget my money, where i choose to live and how i choose to spend my leisurely time. >> more conscience about the distance i'm driving, carpooling more often. >> a weak dollar and decline in the number of oil refineries have been blamed for the increase. however, some analysts predict 2013 will be less brutal than 2012 when the average u.s. household spent nearly $3,000 on gas. thanks to a daring fbi rescue, a little boy who spent the last week as the hostage of an alleged murderer is safe and sound this morning. >> i've been to the hospital. i have visited with ethan. he is doing fine. he's laughing, joking, playing, eating. the things that you would expect a normal 5 to 6-year-old young man to do. >> police say the boy's kidnapper 65-year-old jimmy lee dykes is dead.

however, details about the raid are still unclear at the moment as law enforcement officials begin what they say will be a thorough and labor-intensive investigation. nbc's kurt gregory has more. >> reporter: relief in the small community of midland city, alabama, following the dramatic rescue of a 5-year-old boy held captive for seven days in an underground bunker. late monday afternoon that the tightly-knit community had anxiously been awaiting to hear. >> at approximately 3:12 this afternoon, fbi agents safely recovered the child who's been held hostage for nearly a week. >> reporter: police say the boy was being held captive by 65-year-old jimmy lee dykes after dykes boarded a stopped school bus last week, shot and killed driver charles poland and abducted the child. held for a week in an underground bunker beneath dykes' property, fbi said

negotiations deteriorated within the last 24 hours and that dykes was observed holding a gun. >> at this point, fbi agents fearing the child was in imminent danger, entered the bunker and rescued the child. >> reporter: nbc news has learned a diversionary device was used and that the hostage rescue team entered through a door at the top of the bunker. >> by the great of god, you know, he's okay that was the mission of every man and woman on this compound. >> reporter: the horrific ordeal now over for the 5-year-old. his parents and this community. kurt gregory, nbc news. immigration reform goes front and center in washington as president obama holds high-level talks at the white house. house members will tackle the very issue on capitol hill. tracie potts joins us with a preview of that. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. that hearing is being held by the house judiciary committee controlled by republicans. some of whom want to make sure

the border is secure before we put immigrants on a path to citizenship. that's been the focus of president obama and it will be the focus today when he meets with a number of different groups at the white house, business leaders, labor leaders, civic groups to talk about how do we deal with the 11 million people who have been living, many of them for years, in this country illegally. also today he sent secretary of homeland security, janet napolitano, to the border to take a look at what needs to be done there. she was in san diego yesterday, she'll be in el paso, texas, today. >> very big issue for leaders. nbc news contained a memo that contains legal justification for drone strikes on u.s. citizens. the document says the government can order the killing of americans if they are believed to be senior operational leaders of al qaeda or an associated force. that applies even if there is no intelligence indicating that the

americans are engaged in an active plot to attack the u.s. this document makes the case for drone strikes like the september 2011 attack that killed alleged al qaeda operative alawaki. he was a u.s. citizen. the next foreign policy debate involves the state department, iran and monkey. iran says they launched this primate into space last week but pictures released before and after the mission beg to differ. washington expresses doubt about any space journey but iranian president ahmadinejad now says he would like to give it a go. senator john mccain ran into some trouble when he tweeted, quote, so ahmadinejad wants to be the first iranian in space. wasn't he just there last week, end quote. many in the twitterverse called the wording racist. he later sent out another twitter saying his comments were a joke and told people to, quote, lighten up.

last night new jersey governor chris christie paid his first visit to david letterman, who in the past, as you might know, has secured the new jersey governor about his ample weight over 300,000 times, that's what christie likes to say. during the "late show" appearance governor christie pulled laughs when he pulled a doughnut from his pocket and ate it, bam, right there. he also read back some favorite letterman jokes. take a listen. >> here's two of them. celebrity birthday today, chris christie turns 50. he blew out the candles on his cake and he wished for another cake. a billion dollars will be spent on potato chips for super bowl sunday, and that's just governor christie's house. >> meteorologist bill karins, you know, he has an amazing sense of self-deprecation. it works. >> otherwise it would be awkward. but weight is a big issue for him. he admits that and he's had his struggles. >> he's done well, at least on

david letterman. >> thanks to my new weather bowl -- >> congratulations. you are my favorite weather person for this hour. >> for this hour. it's only a half hour show. well, good morning, everyone. here's what we're looking at today. a little rain coming into the west, so you weather people in portland and eugene, all the way northward to seattle, will be talking about a little shower and rain activity for your morning commute. we'll also be dealing with a little snow at highest elevations. see snow picking up in olympics. as this front moves through we'll see temperatures falling on the coast. probably a little surge of wind, too, with it. not a lot behind it. just instability of showers after we get this moisture away from the coastal sections. the clouds all the way down through northern california but really no shower. just looking at cloudy skies. further down south in california we're dealing with another foggy morning. that onshore flow brought the marine layer in. we have dense fog advisories. not along the coast or san diego, just inland, some valley

areas from bakersfield northward on i-5. be ceful driving with patchy fog until 9 a.m. this afternoon arizona, you're the one that will be dry and beautiful. looks like it will be nice throughout the rest of the week. showers will continue for many areas of the west coast and eventually california. >> what are you going to do for national weatherperson's day? >> it's international pancake day, too, so a big weather geek party at ihop. secretary john kerry says he has big shoes to fill. an arkansas couple's lottery luck is no fish story. details next. plus, a new study says chewing gum could be good for your brain. "early today" is back in two minutes.

good morning. here are some other stories making news this morning. new information for police show that the iraq war veteran charged with killing the navy s.e.a.l. chris kyle and a second man had been taken to a mental hospital twice in the past five months. ruth is also said to have told authorities he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. secretary of state john kerry joked about the pressure following hillary clinton and the former condoleezza rice. >> can a man actually run the state department? i don't know. as the saying goes, i have big heels to fill. former president george h.w. bush is said to be feeling great, and he went out to dinner saturday night at a restaurant in houston. his first night out since being released from the hospital. he had a martini and stayed for two hours. all right. a couple in arkansas are

enjoying the profits from a whopper of a fishing trip, shall we say. lottery officials say the couple bought two lottery tickets, both winners. one ticket for $50,000 was bought on the way to fishing. the second ticket bought on the way home was a $1 million jackpot. now that's a fishing story. in health news now, a new japanese study says chewing gum can boost alertness, upwards of 10%. they say average reaction times are faster among gum chewers. they say it's probably because of sensory brain arousal actually improving temporary blood flow to the brain. yeah. on wall street we'll see if the selloff continues in the wake of the busiest day on record for one company, mcgraw-hill tumbled 14% on monday after the u.s. filed a civil lawsuit against the ratings agency over alleged wrongdoing that fueled the financial crisis. british oil giant bp beat fourth quart earning estimates. keep an eye on yum brand, the pizza hut and kfc parent traded

lower on same store sales in china. dell reportedly close to inking a $23 billion deal to take the pc company private, including a $2 billion investment from microsoft. boeing formally filed a request from the faa to allow the company to resume test flights of dreamliners. necessity have been grounded since january 16th for a global investigation into battery-related fires. goldman sachs ceo lloyd blank fine and marissa meyer will be a group of corporate leaders at white house advising president obama on his economic agenda. the cost of next year's winter limbs in sochi, russia, has risen to $50 billion, five times more than originally planned. in moscow, the first capsule hotel is open for business. a night in the sleep box with just the bare necessities goes for $85 a night. back on this continent, the end of an era. the royal canadian mint is no

longer making and distributing pennies. the one-cent coin costs 1.6 cents to produce. beer powered beer from alaska. you heard me right. plus, some police officers get the boot for goofing off while on the job. details next.

and now to some stories that caught our eye this morning. we begin in south florida where

several firings came down after internal affairs video, you have to watch this, caught miami police grabbing coffee and kissing civilians instead of answering emergency calls like this one about an unconscious 5-month-old. >> 5-month-old not alert. [ inaudible ] >> the police department fired these officers for not responding and disciplined several other officers mentioned in the investigation report. next, to michigan where the henry ford museum celebrated the birth of rosa parks on what would have been the civil rights pioneer's 100th birthday. the museum allowed visitors to board the famous bus parks was arrested on for refusing to give her up seat to a white man in 1955. alaska is making what it called beer-powered beer. the brewery is using leftover malt and barley to fire up the machines used in the brewing process. using the spent grains is expected to save the company

$500,000 in operating expenses. finally a north carolina deejay lost his shirt and pants in a super bowl bet. the radio personality paid a big price for picking the 49ers to win. he had to wear a diaper on his head and derriere in full view of morning commuters. good sport, though. in sports we begin with syracuse and notre dame. the number nine ranked orange got 18 points from c.j. fair who used tough defense. nfl commissioner roger goodell saying the 34-minute power outage will not impact the city of new orleans' chances of hosting another super bowl. and he said beyonce's halftime show did not affect the power outage because she used a separate generator. joke, ha, ha. it was 108.4 million people, that makes it the third most watched program in television history behind super bowl games in 2010 and 2011. but the super bowl did set a new record of 24.1 million twitter

posts compared to over 13 million last year. social media around the world was way up, by the way, except for some reason for people in greenland and russia. the parent of the two super bowl coaches, jack and jackie harbaugh had a difficult time during the super bowl, according to the new jersey governor, chris christie, who was sitting next to them. >> they looked almost physically in pain for most of the game. they really did. and i felt awful for them. they're just wonderful people. they're really kind, nice people. we had conversations during time-outs or at halftime. but they are wonderful folks but they were clearly in misery. in europe, the investigation of world soccer has uncovered hundreds of suspected cases of match fixing. authorities said there were 380 suspicious matches in europe and another 300 around the world. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by new just for men autostop. gray is over. just ahead "anchorman" the

sequel, robert de niro end up in cement just like joe pechi predicted.

welcome back to early "today." it's not raining yet in portland. showers are rolling yet. i-5 will be an interesting drive, you will be dealing with light rain and fog, so careful, give yourself extra time with that big storm kicking through here. again, the foggy only until 9

a.m. and then should be fine throughout the afternoon hours. so, just this morning. >> thanks, bill karins. a cozy three bedroom home is up for sale in west hollywood. the only catch is freddie krueger may end up haunting your dreams. the house used in the original "nightmare on elm street" is for sale and listed for a cool $2.1 million. it will cost you. robert de niro cemented his place on history on monday when he placed his hands and feet in concrete at hollywood's famous chinese theater. the oscar winner had this to say. >> you know, joe pesci always said i'd end up with my feet in cement. i don't think this is what he had in mind. speaking of joe pesci, the actor has settled a lawsuit against the makers of a john gotti bio pic. his lawyers said he was owed $3 million for the part and ended up gaining 30 pound for a role that never happened. "snl" alum kristen wiig has officially joined the cast of the long awaited "anchorman" sequel. and finally, betty white's second annual 90th birthday

special is airing on nbc with a number of guests including amy poehler, blake shelton and even bill clinton. i'm richard lui and this is "early today."

a traditional sport is given an unusual twist in lithuania. horse racing on ice where buggies called sartai once pulled across frozen lakes. now, clear skies and freezing temperatures made the conditions

perfect for this icy ride. 68 horses flew down the mile-long stadium track and a horse named falcon took home the first prize trophy. >> missed the daily double. >> just missed it. so close, bill. well, in japan, even if you build it in ice they will come. visitors braved subzero temperatures as japan kicked off 60th annual sapporo snow festival. one of the region's biggest tourist attractions. they have larger than life icons. they took several weeks and thousands of tons of snow. i'm always amazed by that. now to cuba where spider-man is at it again. made famous by scaling buildings without a harness, alain robert successfully climbed the historical habana hotel yesterday. the french spider-man pulled himself more than 400 feet up the hotel using only balcony railings. he has climbed more than 80 buildings worldwide. he doesn't always ask for approval ahead of time. >> what's the highest he's free

climbed? >> about 50 feet. >> really? >> yeah. but it's in the gym. because it's national forecasters appreciation day, here's a thank you card. >> oh, that's very good. >> see. you're appreciated. >> from the entire team. >> the entire team. >> well written. >> it was very personal. thanks, bill karins. >> that's about what i deserve. time for an early look at stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. the super bowl champion baltimore ravens will get a hero's welcome. the victory parade begins at baltimore city hall where preparations were under way monday. it end with a celebration at stadium. we want to wish a happy birthday to baseball hall of famer, hank aaron, turning 79 years old today. as bill mentioned earlier, it's national pancake day and at least it is at the international house of pancakes where a shortstack is free today. the company suggesting, though, that customers make a donation to charity in return for those pancakes. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest

developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, a look at what's coming up later today on the "today" show. what happens when fairytale weddings turn into nightmares and couples are bilked out of money before the big day? jess rosen reports on how to protect yourself. keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a great tuesday.

>> pitting neighbors, friends, businesses and parents against each other. >> an early morning decision after unprecedented turnout at a los gatos town meeting. at issue, whether a gun store

can do business in the upscale town. plus the bay area city expected to take on the issue of marriage equality happening today. and not just bad, it's l.a. bad. the new report that says bay area traffic is just as bad as our neighbors to the south. we'll have details coming up. speaking of the south, let's take you down to the south bay. a live look over san jose where traffic right now is smooth sailing. it's still very early on this tuesday, february 5th. this is "today in the bay." a smooth 4:31 i might say. good morning, everybody. thank you for joining us. i'm jon kelley. >> he can make even 4:30 smooth. good morning. i'm laura garcia-cannon. lots to get to this morning. let's check the forecast with the smooth christina loren. >> thank you from one smoothie to another. we're looking good this morning. temperaturesn